In a new op-ed, Assembly Ways and Means Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno and Senate Finance Committee Vice Chair Rochelle Nguyen ring the alarm bells about how Donald Trump’s spending bill will cost Nevada billions of dollars over the next few years. 

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Las Vegas Sun: Lombardo Cheers On Budget Bill That Will Cost Nevada Dearly

Daniele Monroe-Moreno and Rochelle Nguyen

• President Donald Trump and Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, which was signed into law this month, has already made plenty of headlines for all the harm it will do to working and middle-class families. That’s very much deserved.

• In Nevada, the law will rip health care away from more than 100,000 people, slash food assistance benefits that half a million residents depend on, and eliminate job-creating clean energy investments, all while cutting taxes for billionaires and adding trillions to the national debt.

• What hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention is how this bill will downshift billions of dollars in additional costs to the state, blowing massive holes in future state budgets that we simply cannot afford. As state legislators and leading members of the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee and the state Senate’s Finance Committee, we understand all too well that the budget bill is a ticking bomb that will blow up countless future state budgets.

• What we don’t understand is why Gov. Joe Lombardo hasn’t spoken up and used his ties to Trump to protect his constituents and state.

• Even before this federal train wreck, Nevada’s financial picture was growing increasingly fragile. This year, our state’s Economic Forum downgraded revenue projections for the current and upcoming budget cycles, forcing us to confront a harsher economic reality. Tourism and gaming - the lifeblood of Nevada’s economy - are both down, with a notable drop in international visitors to Las Vegas and declining gaming revenue straining the state’s tax base. These sectors support everything from schools to infrastructure, and when they struggle, our whole budget suffers.

• To make matters worse, Lombardo has shown he’s unable to handle the fiscal responsibilities of his office. This year, he submitted an unbalanced budget that left lawmakers scrambling to fix the $330 million shortfall in the budget he presented.

• Now, with the One Big Beautiful Bill looming over our already-precarious fiscal landscape, Lombardo has again failed to step up. The bill will reduce the federal government’s contribution to states’ Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reimbursements, which will likely force Nevada to either find an additional $150 million a year or make cuts to the program. The OBBB will also reduce federal reimbursement rates for those on Medicaid Expansion from 90% to the rate for traditional Medicaid - about 60% for Nevada - roughly quadrupling the amount the state has to cover for new Medicaid Expansion enrollees. Given the naturally high rates of turnover, this will ultimately phase out the 90% reimbursement rate to the lower 60% rate over several years. As a result, if Nevada were to continue offering Medicaid to the expansion population at its current levels, it would cost the state an estimated additional $1.2 billion from 2031-2034, or else hundreds of thousands more Nevadans would likely lose their health care coverage.

• Making matters worse, the OBBB will also force Nevada to reduce provider taxes on hospitals that currently bring in hundreds of millions in revenue annually to help cover the state’s Medicaid costs and other health care expenses.

• Trump and Republicans in Congress are effectively passing the buck to state governments in order to help pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest few. Nevada will now be expected to pay more for essential services, but unlike the federal government, we can’t print money or run deficits. We are constitutionally required to balance our budget, and this bill’s impacts could make that task nearly impossible in the years ahead.

• Despite all of this, Lombardo didn’t push back against the bill. He didn’t use his national platform or his close political ties to Trump - whom he endorsed, campaigned for, and helped deliver Nevada for in 2024 - to secure any protections or carve-outs for our state. He stood by while federal Republicans gutted the programs that support hundreds of thousands of Nevadans and left us holding the bill. In fact, after Trump signed it into law, Lombardo said Nevadans should be excited about it. He has yet to offer any plan for how to close the looming budget holes this legislation will create.

• Let’s be clear: The choices Nevada will face because of this bill are bleak. Republicans are leaving the state with only two options: raise taxes on already-struggling working families and small businesses, or slash essential services - cutting support for students, seniors, patients and public safety. And in this economy, with already-downgraded revenues and declining tourism, those cuts would be devastating.

• Trump’s bill is a reckless, cruel and fiscally ruinous piece of legislation. And Lombardo’s failure to oppose it - or even nod at preparing for its consequences - makes him complicit in the damage it will do to our state.

• The people of Nevada deserve leadership that puts our state’s financial stability and their well-being first. Instead, they got a governor who won’t stand up to his political allies, even when our budget and our future are on the line.

• As chairs of the two state legislative committees overseeing Nevada’s finances, we had to work around Lombardo’s budgeting incompetence and fix his $330 million deficit in order to draft a balanced, responsible budget for the state this past legislative session. Unfortunately, it looks like the chairs of our committees will be forced to contend with the consequences of the governor’s incompetence for years to come.